The Role Of The Red Crescent In Developing Skills To Manage Severe Injuries In Rural Areas

Abstract

Background: Trauma death rates are disproportionately high in rural areas around the world because they have limited access to specialist services, longer transport times, and limited local emergency response capacity. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has increasingly highlighted the implementation of integrated trauma management programs in an attempt to overcome these deficits.

Objective: The research assesses the effectiveness of Red Crescent programs in developing high-level severe injury management skills in healthcare workers and community volunteers in rural areas from 2019 to 2025.

Methods: Mixed-methods evaluation was conducted across 23 countries with Red Crescent rural trauma programs. Data were collected from 847 health facilities, 12,456 trained health workers, and 89,234 community volunteers. Skill competency, patient outcomes, and system improvement were the most significant outcomes.

Findings: Red Crescent interventions demonstrated significant improvements in trauma care capacity: the competency of healthcare workers increased by 73.2% (p<0.001), severe injury case fatality decreased by 34.6% (95% CI: 31.2-38.1%), and time to definitive treatment decreased by 28.4 minutes on average. The interventions reached 3.2 million rural residents of intervention communities.

Conclusion: Red Crescent rural trauma programs boost considerably emergency response capacity, patient outcomes, and healthcare system resilience in the underserved population. The multi-level approach of professional training, community education, and system strengthening maintains long-term impact on rural trauma care.